Telford & Wrekin Council reveals its huge bill for caring
Caring for older people and vulnerable children makes up a massive proportion of council spending by Telford & Wrekin Council, newly published figures show.
Foster care, residential placements outside the county and personal care fees all figure in the bills of more than £100 paid out in the month.
Almost £14m was paid out by the council to businesses, contractors and carers in September.
The council is now publishing details of all spending over £100 on its website www.telford.gov.uk
The first set of figures show that in September, the council paid 2,426 individual invoices which added up to £13,800,250.
The council said it had taken the decision to publish more information than it was required to do by law in the interests of openness and honesty.
Councils already have to publish details of everything they spend above £500, but Telford & Wrekin Council is believed to be one of the first UK councils to publish details of everything that costs £100 or more. The information will be published monthly.
Councillor Bill McClements, cabinet member for resources and service delivery, said: "We are doing this because one of the core values of a co-operative council is that we are open and honest with our residents about what we do.
"Publishing this data underlines that commitment. The fact that we believe we are one of the first councils in the country to do so, shows just far we are prepared to take this," he added.
The figures show that care of vulnerable children and older people account for a huge part of the council's budget, with care and support accounting for £1,875,271 and family and children's services £665,151.
The open council pages on the website also have details of allowances and expenses paid to councillors, salaries of the council's senior managers as well as details and minutes of all public council meetings.
